In case you didn't know, we're kind of obsessed with sleep environments around here. As a pediatric sleep consultant, I see firsthand what a difference the right environment can make. As moms, we love our sleep and have learned that an ideal sleep environment lends itself to better sleep for the whole family!

Listen in as Kayla and I break down the science behind our obsession with room temperature, darkness levels, and white noise.

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Episode 9: Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments

Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to sleep talking moms. We are on episode nine. And today we are going to be talking about sleep environment and all those things that can help your baby and child and yourself sleep at the optimal level. So Carianna Yes, take us into this one. I cannot stress enough like, these things are non negotiables when I work with families, because I know how much they help. And while it's not necessarily a magic fix, I can't tell you how many times I've like gotten on the phone with somebody. And before we even started working together, they implemented a darker room for naps or white noise for sleep. And it's made a huge difference. So I just can't I can't stress the importance of this episode. Enough. But I'm sure that you have heard this yourself, Kayla, I often get the question. Well, how long? Do I have to have this like ideal environment for my child to sleep better? I have heard that from both sets of mothers. Absolutely. That was like when I first implemented these things into my children's sleeping arrangement. That was the number one question is like, when are you going to get rid of that? How? How can you continue to do this in all of the places? So I know we will get into those answers later on. Yes, yeah, I want to hold off the answer to that question. I know it's a burning question. I want to hold that off until we've kind of talked through some of the specifics and sciency stuff about sleep environment.
Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments So should we just start off with talking about room temperature for sleep? Yes, let's dive on in. Okay, so an ideal room temperature is going to be 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are Celsius, 20 to 22 degrees Celsius. That is what we're looking for as far as room temperature goes. And honestly, cooler is better than hot when it comes to sleep. Okay, so if we're going to err on one side or the other, we air on the cooler side rather than the warmer side. Okay, so can you tell us why cooler temperatures are better? Absolutely. So our body actually needs a natural dip in temperature in order to release melatonin at bedtime and melatonin we're going to talk a lot about melatonin, but it is our sleepy hormone. So it helps us initiate sleep. And you know, if you think about it, like if we didn't live in homes, in environments where the climate was, you know, so well controlled. You know, if we lived outside like our ancestors, we would experience a natural dip in temperature in the evening. And so that's just what our bodies need to help initiate sleep. This is also you know, oftentimes when you hear about bedtime routines, a bath is included. Or a shower where to the stage now where we're doing showers at night with my boy it's like a whole new world. But that's why we recommend that because if you think about it when you get out of a warm bath or out of the warm shower you actually your your body temperature plummets and gets cooler initially right and so that helps with the sleep onset that helps with the melatonin production. Even
Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments as adults like we will often wash up even if we're not taking a full on shower, like washing our faces. I don't know if you do that before bed, Kayla, but yes, I'm in my 30s so I've got to do a face regimen. Oh, you have a whole face regimen. Wow. I do. I Oh, I'm impressed. Very impressed. I do not you think I would because my mom is the Mary Kay consultant, but I just use water. Ooh, sorry, mom. Sorry mom. I know you're listening. So anyways, we we have our own ways of doing that to where we wash our face with warm water. It helps drop Our body temperature a little bit so temperature is huge cooler is better 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. That's what we want to aim for. Okay. Should we move on? Yeah, I think so. So you talked about temperature. Next let's talk about darkness. Yes, darkness. super important. I can't stress this one enough. We want it pitch dark. Pitch Black pitch dark basically when you're in your child's room, whether it's nighttime I'm early morning, naptime. You don't want to be able to see your hand in front of your face. That's how dark it should be. You should be running into things. Almost And, you know, there's a couple reasons why I would say the reasons are different depending on If we're talking about night Or if we're talking about You know, early morning Time So let's let's talk about night for Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments And again, we're going to talk about melatonin, our sleeping hormone. Okay melatonin production now Not only is it right related by temperature, it's also regulated by light and darkness. So, if your retinas are sensing light, they You're going to send a signal to your brain that it's not time to produce melatonin yet. So, another reason we want to kind of dim lights during the bedtime routine, kind of start lowering the level of light And then for sleep, we want no light so that we are not inhibiting that melatonin production when we're Talking about early in the morning or we're talking about half time, you know we're not having that surgery. Have melatonin like we are at night Okay, so That's not necessarily helping For that, ask But darkness is is still important. So we have to remember that our little ones aren't motive. Good sleepers right Kayla? You You wake up and you look at the clock and it's 4am you don't wake up that early. No you don't wake up that early. You I know you wake up early but you don't start your day better not not afford just now. difference but no, not at four. So if you wake up and you see it's four o'clock, what do you do? I'm going to turn over and go back to bed. Exactly because you know like, I need an extra hour of sleep. I will feel Better I will be happier. I will have this smoother time with my kids right like you can reason through that, yes, our kids Don't think that way so if they wake up they Can't tell time some of them so So that darkness level And making sure that it is pitch black when we want them to sleeping. That is like there. Biggest signal So if they wake up and they're like, Oh, I think I see light I think it's playtime. They're not thinking Oh if I don't go back to sleep, I'm going to be really crabby all day and I'm going to feel like crap. They they're not motivated like we are so that darkness how With early wakings with naptime and just making sure there aren't distracted actions for them and that it's sending that Strong cue to their brain Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments Yeah Can I recommend And something that I'm sure that you do this with you Your families but I know For us what helped, even during like the getting into naptime process, whatever that looks like because I know people have bedtime routines and I know that people often have an naptime routines as well. I know that here I Like shut the blinds and I pull the curtains. So that you know like this 1530 minutes before now Time, it's a little bit darker. I don't really know if that helps out scientifically or biologically with the kid but it helps me And maybe hopefully I'm free to understand like, Oh, it's Getting closer to naptime. Things are darker So if that's if your kid is somebody who's, you know, my kids are both very, very hyper. Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments So if your kids are like that and you think that that might help signal like okay, we're getting close. I totally wrecked doing it because I know that it helps us know I love that idea. I think that's absolutely good. To help because you do that on a regular basis and it is almost It helps bridge naptime and bedtime not that they're gonna think that naptime is bedtime because that's not something that happens once our circadian rhythm is developed around three months. But you are showing them Very strong association that It gets dimmer and then we Do our routine and then we go to sleep. And they're seeing that concern Instantly I think that's awesome. Kayla, you Yay, yay Oh Hey, let's talk about white noise. The third main factor in our sleep environment. Kayla Are you a fan of white noise? Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments I'm a huge fan of white noise and I actually have the ones that you recommend. I know that you will talk about that a little bit later, but The ones that we have are portable and so and they're battery operated and they're rechargeable, so you can use them in the car. If you're on a trip, you can Use them at the hotel room at the Airbnb that you Mother in law's whatever wherever the kid is, you can Move this thing and again Help you no matter where you are Yes, I'm obsessed with white noise. I'm I'm literally obsessed with white noise. I love it. I use it myself. Me too. Me too and I we've recently started that I don't know maybe in the last Each year or a year and a half, so it hasn't always been something that I've done, but I have noticed a difference. I know a Especially for my husband. He is the Lighter sleeper like I'm pretty much dead to the world when I'm asleep. Now you are Don't wait. I am not One of the moms who is like hearing every single sound my kid makes and waking up I'm like dead. But my husband is a very light sleeper and he would go through periods of really having trouble sleeping. And when we added white noise, I think he would say that it has significantly helped. So it's huge not just for babies, you know. So with white noise, what I recommend is We're using true white noise. So we're not using things like oh waves or lullabies or rain sounds. We want that Just a very continuous consistent sound that doesn't have a bunch of up and down stimulating things going on and we want to aim for like 60 to 70 decibels as far as loudness goes, and we want it to play Pretty continuously so we want it playing all night long. Every nap. Basically if you want your child sleeping, we want that to be playing in with all the things that you've talked about temperature during And now with the white noise. What is it about the white noise that makes it It's so important to sleep with white noise. It mainly acts as a buffer, Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments okay, so even when we're sleeping our brain is still Always processing stimuli. And if we happen to be in a lighter stage of sleep, when there's a noise around us, you know whether it's a car door outside of our house or someone washing dishes or whatever a dog barking if our Brain picks up on that and we're in a lighter stage of sleep, there's the chance that it will fully pull us out of sleep and wake us up. So white noise acts as a really good buffer to keep us from hearing those external sounds that we don't need to and you know, we do have studies that show Show us sleeping with white noise decreases the time it takes us to fall asleep. It increases the time we Spend a sleep overnight, and that overall it just improves our quality of sleep. So very much backed by research that that white noise is helpful and again, not just Four little ones for all humans. Honestly, I have a friend too. Even that white noise for her dog and And it how long with Dog Yeah, I mean, it's not just a human thing. Although Don't ask me to show you studies on that, but well, and I was gonna day two. I'm over here. I live in a pretty populated neighborhood. Our houses are pretty close together and the City has been doing road work right in front of our house for like the past two weeks. And if you're like me, I'm a control freak. Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments I'm type A I honestly I'm very proud of that. Should be but one thing like For some reason, they've been starting Like literally five minutes after I put it down For his nap oh oh So I have been like every single time they do it I like you know kind of stress. I feel it in my shoulders, a little bit of tension. And the white noise mixed with I mean, I'm sure mixed with all of these other things, but White Noise especially has been a lifesaver because I don't have to worry as much Because he's not hearing the beep, beep beep when they Back up, they're not hearing the jackhammering He's just out. Yeah, so If you're like me at all And you're concerned about the noise level
in your neighborhood, your apartment complex wherever it may be. This is a huge, huge help to keep them from Waking up so that you can get your stuff done or you can get a nap or do whatever you need to do. But that time Yeah. And another thing that you didn't mention other siblings, right, like, yeah, yeah, I mean, you don't have to worry about trying to keep your older child quiet while baby sleeps when when Campbell my second was a newborn we had white noise In this room and we actually had To sound machines Outside in The hall just because the way our house is set up. The living area where Ethan would always play is actually you know, it's not that far from Campbell's room and I could just turn all three of them on and then I didn't have to constantly be telling Ethan like, you need to be quiet. Be quiet. Your brother's sleeping. I could just kind of let him go more live your life. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so now we should probably get to the question When can I stop using these things for my child sleep. What do you think Kayla? I'm putting you on the spot. Yeah, well, I ain't know the answer to this because one I followed you forever. You're my best friend. We've talked about this before. I mean, optimally never. If it's not broke, don't fix it. So if these things are working for you, then just keep it up. I mean, obviously you're going to see yourself in situations where at Little bit noisier you're in a hotel room and I don't know if there's any hotel rooms that don't have blackout curtains but you know any of those things like sometimes you're going to forget the way noise machine or whatever but I think all Ultimately, if you're giving Your kid the gift of beautiful sleep, then why would we fix it? Yeah, no I agree I'm I'm in the camp of if it's not broke don't fix it. I do think that you You can experiment like if you're really it shouldn't go Add a bunch of light in your child's room for some reason you can experiment with But if you notice, like, Oh yeah, this really makes naps rough. Then I would go back to the basics because there's a reason that we benefit from all of these things and why they help us sleep better. The other thing that I would say is As your child gets older and does start to become more of a motivated sleeper like us adults then When I think you know, it would make the most sense to start messing with these things if you're really wanting to get away from white noise or if you really want them, you know, to, to not have blackout curtains on their room or whatever You know, I would wait until they're three plus years old to really mess with those things when they start figuring out that their body feels good when sleeps and you know We do have more of that. internal motivation Helping them leap instead of them. Just viewing Sleep as you know, the time When the playing stops, which is kind of where we're at for the first several years, they just, you know, they're like, well, I don't want to sleep I want to keep playing and that's totally normal for them to feel that way. But yeah, I think you can experiment with it if you experiment and it goes back Go back to the basics that you know work. There is nothing wrong with using white noise for years and years and years. You know, as long as it's at the appropriate level, there's no issues with that. And it's just biology that we sleep better in the dark and in that ideal environment, but also guys, like don't be afraid to make your house look like a meth lab and put up some aluminum foil. It's okay. It's okay. I'm giving you permission to make your house look like a meth lab. I'm so glad you said I've had clients send me pictures of like their babies window from outside of the house and be like with a loom. tinfoil taped up to block out the light and they're like, yeah, my house looks like a meth lab. Thank you Carrie. Yeah. They continue to do it because it works with sleep. So, you can use aluminum foil in a pinch. I love a blackout easy window curtains are not curtains their window covers that. Velcro up. I love, love, love those for white noise. I love love Your fan. I will link All of the products that I use in the show notes, you can check them out. But I have pretty good Consistently recommended. The same products All along. If you're traveling slumber is a great idea. option. It's like a A privacy pod that goes over the Pack and play or over you know what toddler cot to provide that separation in that darkness. So lots of things you can do even if you aren't in your own home. Firstly we are so glad you joined us for the sleep talking moms. podcast today. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a second to grab a screenshot. Share it in your stories and tag us of all this sleeps See you next time. Why I'm obsessed with sleep environments

How early did your child wake up this morning? If it's anytime before 6am, we've got an early waking on hands! 🤮 BUT that doesn't mean it has to be this way forever! In this blog I walk you through the main 4 reasons your child is waking early and how you can fix them and teach your child to sleep until a more reasonable time.

 

What is considered an Early Waking for Babies and Toddlers?

Any waking between 4am and 6am is considered an early waking. Unfortunately, if your baby wakes at 6:15am, it may feel early but it's actually a natural biological time for them. We'd all love it if our babies slept until 8am but it's not something to expect. Your baby's internal clock naturally falls to a 7-8pm bedtime and 6-7am wake up time. Let's go over some of the major reasons why your baby might be waking earlier than 6am. You may find that several of these reasons are coming into play or even just one.

 

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy and disclosure statement for more information.

Reason #1 Your baby is not motivated to keep sleeping.

Everyone's sleep cycles are shorter and lighter between 4 and 6 am. Our brains spend more time in REM sleep which is naturally lighter, making it easier to be woken up. Each sleep cycle gets shorter and shorter as well which means there are just more chances your baby will wake as they transition multiple times between sleep cycles. If you're baby is not an independent sleeper (meaning they don't know how to fall asleep without help), they will not be able to fall back asleep without intervention at these frequent, early wakings.

Even if your baby or toddler is an independent sleeper, they are not as motivated as adults who tend to work for every last drop of sleep in the morning. When we, as adults, wake briefly we are motivated to fall back asleep because we recognize that it's not yet time to wake up. Your baby doesn't realize that and they REALLY won't realize that if you start your day at whatever time they wake. The biggest thing you can do to motivate your sleeper to keep sleeping in the morning is to give them the gift of independent sleep. 

Reason #2 Light and YOU are signaling to your baby's brain that it's time to get up!

We've got to make sure that no signals are being sent to your baby that it's time to wake up. If any bit of light is creeping into your baby's room, it's sending a direct signal to your baby's brain that it's morning. Get that bedroom DARK. Go in at 5/6am and see how dark the room is. If you can see your hand in front of your face, it's not dark enough.

I like to use a scale of 1-10 with 1 being light and bright and 10 being pitch black. Your baby's room should fall at an 8-10 on that scale. This takes some maneuvering but is oftentimes a simple fix for sleep problems.

Also, make sure YOU aren't sending your baby signals that it's okay to be awake. If you get them up right away when they wake early, you are telling their internal clock that it's an okay time to wake for the morning. If you don't have one, set a designated wake time (DWT) for your baby and stick to it. It should be about 11-12 hours after bedtime.

If your DWT is 6:30am, then you should not get your child out of their dark room until that time. When they wake early, use your sleep coaching method until DWT. The least interaction and stimulation you can give during this time, the better.

Reason #3 Bedtime is too late.

A bedtime that is too late can actually cause your baby to wake too early. This truth goes against common sense and what you may hear given as advice, but it's true. Your child's natural biological clock is wired to go down between 7 and 8pm.

If bedtime is later than that and you are experiencing early wake ups, try shifting bedtime earlier by 15-30 minutes. You should aim for your baby or toddler to be getting 11-12 hours of sleep overnight and for them to have between 12 and 13 hours from wake up to bedtime. It's a myth that keeping your child up later will help them to sleep in in the morning.

Reason #4 Entire schedule is shifted too early.

I get it, your child wakes at 5am so their first nap has to be early because they are a tired mess by 7am. However, this causes all the other naps to occur early as well. This then leads to either a super early bedtime or an extra, crappy nap before a late bedtime. Neither are helpful to your baby's schedule. In fact, this just perpetuates the problem, leading to an tired baby and a vicious cycle of early wakings!

The best way to keep this from happening is to make the shift with nap 1. Hold it off until later, even if your baby is a tired mess. Use your DWT (yes, you MUST have one of these) to determine when nap 1 should occur. Do NOT use the actual time your baby is waking. This will take work and it won't be easy to keep a tired baby awake until their nap time but it's WORTH it!

If your baby is fussy, get creative. Sing songs, dance, play in the tub, go crawl around outside in the grass together! Like all things with sleep, the hard work will be worth it and that slight schedule shift might be just the what your baby needs to sleep until a decent time in the morning.

Got a toddler? 

Be sure to check out the Mella sleep trainer toddler clock (save 10% with code: allthesleeps10) and the Kidstible sleep lamp. These are both great tools to help your toddler understand when it's an acceptable time to wake up for the day. Like any other sleep tool, you'll need to put in work on the front end to enforce the clock but once your toddler catches on, it's a great visual!

 

Last piece of advice:

Early wake ups can take TIME to be resolved. You need to consistently stick to your plan for 2 weeks before you might see results. Because of this time commitment, some parents are quick to give up and resign themselves that their baby is just an "early riser." In most cases, this is not true!
 
If your child is waking early and is unhappy, obviously cranky, and a tired mess by the end of the day, these are all signs that they are not simply an "early riser." They do NEED that sleep they just don't know how to get it.

I know you've all been patiently waiting for this list! I'm about to dish on all the products that you could ever possibly buy to improve your baby's sleep. You might be surprised by how FEW items are on my NEED list and which items I advice you not to waste your hard earned money on!

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy and disclosure statement for more information.

1. Velcro Swaddle

The velcro makes it adjustable to size and helps keep your baby from breaking out. These are often sold at Babies R Us, Walmart, Target, and Amazon for $34.99 (3 Pack). Does it get much easier than that?

2. White Noise

One of my favorites is the LectroFan Micro. In fact, I personally own 2! They are small, portable, hold a charge for 12+ hours and pack a lot of sound for their size. But honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the Lectrofan sound machines. Check them out here.

3. Crib

4. Dark Room

Ok, so this one isn't really a product  BUT I'll give you some examples of products that you can use to achieve this dark room. Again, this is a MUST people! That's why it's on the NEED list. Get your baby's sleep space DARK! Whether that is your room because you are room-sharing or your baby's own separate room, this is non-negotiable.

I often want to laugh (is that mean?) when I see beautiful nursery pictures with translucent flowy curtains. I'm sorry, but that is not reality and sooner or later those nursery aesthetics are going to be crushed with black out shades. Getting your windows blacked out doesn't have to make your nursery ugly, but it may cramp your style.

I highly recommend using BlackOut EZ Window Covers. We used them in my house, and I've even written up this lovely review and how-to HERE. We cover them with some beautiful faux wood blinds (which you'll see in the review) and the room looks amazing- and more importantly- it's pitch black.

You can also go the aluminum foil and duct tape route if that's more your style.

Okay! That's it for the NEED section. Told you it was short! Make these top 4 items a priority!

1. Video Monitor

My own personal video monitor is no longer sold, but I'm all about saving money when you can and this VTech Video Baby Monitor is a great option that gets the job done without breaking the bank.

A more expensive option is the Infant Optics video monitor. From everyone I know that's used it, I've heard nothing but amazing things! It's got night vision, room temperature display, remote pan/tilt/zoom, portable, expands up to 4 cameras, sound activated LED, and 2 way talk.

2. Pack 'N Play

If you are a family that travels often and stays with friends and family, you'll most definitely want to invest in a Pack 'N Play so your child can have their own sleep space while traveling. Most hotels keep Pack 'N Plays or cribs on hand so be sure to ask if you are staying in a hotel.

As mentioned above, many Pack 'N Plays come with bassinet attachments so you could absolutely skip the crib and go with a Pack 'N Play for the first several years of your baby's life. I see a lot of families do this when funds are tight or space is limited.

3. Sleep Sacks

I love sleep sacks for their many uses but I'll be honest, I've never used a sleep sack with my own children! They are great as a wearable blanket for colder climates, as a deterrent to climbing out the climb, and solving the issue of baby's legs getting caught in the slats of the crib. Definitely a good idea but this falls under the WANT category simply because I've survived 5 years with good sleepers and no sleep sacks! However, please remember that blankets are a no-no for at least the first year!

4. Snooze Shade

This is a WANT for the baby who will be forced to take some naps on the go due to older siblings schedules, errands that can't be rearranged, etc. The Snooze Shade can be used with your car seat to make their environment pitch black and ventilated to help them sleep on the go. Use this link to take 10% off your purchase!

5. Slumber Pod

This is a portable tent that can enclose your Pack 'N Play while traveling to give your baby that very dark environment they need in hotel rooms! Definitely recommend this for families that do lots of hotel traveling with little ones.

*Use the code ALLTHESLEEPS to take 10% off your purchase!

 

I recently found Blackout EZ window covers, and they have changed my life! I wish I had known about these things 4 years ago!!In light of this, I thought I would review them and write a post about how incredibly awesome they are.

I would recommend Blackout EZ to just about anyone; not only parents with babies and young children, but also anyone who works night shifts and has to sleep during the day, or anyone who could benefit from sleeping in a totally dark bedroom! 

A big key in maximizing your child's sleep is keeping their sleep area very dark. Any bit of light in the room can inhibit melatonin, which is the hormone that regulates sleep. For this reason, a very dark room produces good sleep! 

Over the years, I have tried different methods of darkening my sons' windows. With my oldest, Ethan, he really only needed two layers of room darkening curtains and he was good to go. As he got older, he needed less and less coverage for his windows.

My youngest, Campbell, proved to be our more sensitive sleeper, and I had to use a combination of construction paper, blankets, and two layers of room darkening curtains in order to make his room dark enough so that he would sleep soundly! Let me show you what an eyesore his windows were! 

 

Here is my finished product! Let me tell you, after I did both windows in the room, it was pitch black! And now, I have my windows back so I could put up pretty curtains or blinds!

I already had faux wood blinds that I was wanting to put up but couldn't before. Doesn't the finished product look so much nicer?! I am LOVING it! And so is my sleeping Campbell!